Catalan economy speeds up its recovery with a 0.4% growth in the fourth quarter of 2013

Barcelona (ACN).- The Catalan economy has continued on a positive trend during the fourth quarter of 2013, also speeding up the recovery process. According to data released on Friday by the Catalan Ministry of Economy and Knowledge alongside the Catalan Institute of Statistics (Idescat), Catalonia’s GDP grew by 0.4% in the fourth quarter of 2013, while the Spanish average stood at 0.3%. The Service Sector, by breaking away from negative rates after 6 consecutive quarters of decrease, has contributed to such figures while construction has also shown signs of a turnaround. However, in the whole year, the Catalan GDP has decreased by 0.6%, although it is a better result than the 1.3% drop registered in 2012. The continued good results in exports due to the increasing external demand and the improvement of the domestic demand have driven the economy forward.

In the whole of 2013, the agricultural sector and the industry registered positive figures with growths of 3.7 % and 0.7% respectively. On the other hand, construction and services have continued on a downward trend, although the decreases, by 5.6% and 0.3% respectively, were less sharp than the previous year.

For the industrial sector, the annual growth rate of gross value added stood at 1.3%, thanks to a recovery in industrial production that exceeded the average of the Eurozone.

Encouraging signs for construction, services have broken away from negative rates

In quarterly terms, construction, although it has continued to fall (-4.7%), has done so at a slower pace than during the previous quarters. More specifically, the residential construction sector continued towards new lows, but the slowdown in the decline of housing prices and the sales of new housing-estates are signs of a turnaround. Furthermore, the increase in the use of public tendering, which has been developed in recent months, is also good news, although there are still significant limitations regarding public investment.

In the case of services, which had registered negative annual rates for six consecutive quarters, the fourth quarter of 2013 has recovered positive values, thanks to a general improvement of activities in the sector, especially regarding retail. This recovery in the tertiary sector accounts for the net job creations, revealed by the latest Labour Force Survey (EPA).

Tourism has contributed to speeding up the recovery process

Tourism has also contributed to these improving figures. During 2013, the influx of foreign tourists increased by 8%, and their average spending by 13.4%. The number of foreign tourists who visited Catalonia reached a new record (15.6 million), exceeding the numbers of 2007. While the number of foreign tourists has been on a rising trend, there were fewer Spanish tourists visiting Catalonia, with their number of overnight hotel stays reduced by 6.8%.